New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The death toll in India due to the deadly coronavirus reached 3 on Tuesday, as a 63-year-old man from Maharashtra died due to the COVID-19, while the total number of confirmed cases has reached 137 in the country, the health ministry said.

As per Ministry figures, the highest number of cases are from Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka. Notably, a couple of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Haryana have shut down schools and colleges in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

The government has stopped incoming travel from a number of nations, including the European Union, Malaysia, Philippines and Afghanistan. As the questions over the lack of mass testing grow louder, the Indian Council of Medical Research said they are working on the inclusion of private laboratories in the testing process and considering the possibility of testing people who have no travel history.

The government, in addition to existing travel curbs, also suspended any travel of passengers from Malaysia, Philippines and Afghanistan with immediate effect. "No flight shall take off from these countries to India after 1500 hours Indian Standard Time (IST). The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure," reads the new advisory.

 

Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus today

1. The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in India reached 3 on Tuesday, after a 63-year-old man, infected with the virus died in Mumbai. The man has a travel history to Dubai, which he did not disclose to the authorities. The man's wife has also been found COVID-19 positive but is stable. The deceased patient also had high blood pressure, pneumonia & inflammation of heart muscles and increased heart rate leading to his death.

2. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country reached 137 with new cases reported in Maharashtra, Ladakh and UP’s Noida. Maharashtra tops the list highest confirmed cases in the country at 39. of these 39 cases, 36 are Indian nationals while the remaining 3 are foreigners. In Ladakh, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 6.

3. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday informed that private NABL accredited laboratories will be operationalised soon for COVID-19 diagnosis. The apex medical body also appealed them to offer the testing free of cost. "We are also operationalizing high-quality private laboratories that include NABL accredited laboratories to understand the modalities, to increase the test while ensuring appropriate safeguards."

4. Dr Balram Bhargava, Director-General, ICMR said, "We already know that we are in stage 2. We are not in stage 3, clearly as of now. There are 4 stages. 3rd stage is community transmission which we hope we shouldn't have. It would depend on how strongly we close our international borders, in terms of which govt has taken very proactive steps. But can't say that community transmission won't happen."

5. He said that all asymptomatic patients who have taken international travel should be home quarantine for 14 days. "They should be tested only if they become symptomatic with fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. If the test is positive, they should be isolated and treated as per standard protocol," he said.

6. The Maharashtra government also announced that public transport will remain working in Mumbai. The government also said that the government offices will also remain open. “Trains and buses are essential services so we are not stopping them as of now but if people don't listen to our advice and don't avoid unnecessary travel, then we will think about that too. Next 15-20 days are very crucial for us”, CM Uddhav Thackeray said.

7. The Ministry of External Affairs informed that around 250 Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The ministry also said that the officials are taking good care of the infected Indians. “The Indians who are in Iran are being very well looked after by our mission. The Ambassador is giving a lot of attention to them. Of course in a situation like that, you will find some positive cases. But rest assured that every care is being taken by the Mission, in coordination and cooperation by the govt of Iran”, Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary, MEA said as reported by ANI.

8. Meanwhile, the Kerala government has launched a mass handwashing campaign and named it ‘break the chain’, in its bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. The ‘break the chain’ campaign aims at educating people about the importance of personal and public hygiene. In Kerala, 24 cases of COVID-19 have been reported till including 3 foreign nationals.

9. The WHO also praised India’s approach towards containing the spread of novel coronavirus in the country. Henk Bekedam, the WHO Representative to India, as reported by news agency PTI said, "I think the commitment of the Indian government from the top level -- the Prime Minister's office himself -- has been enormous, very impressive. This is one of the reasons why India is doing very well”.

10. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday issued guidelines and advised to maintain a distance of at least one meter between the two people to combat the spread of coronavirus. In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

 

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,75,000 people and has claimed lives of over 7,000 people globally. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.